Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-01
EAGLES IN INDIANA.
THE KING OF THE AIR DESCRIBED
BY AN UNFRlENDLY SCIENTIST.


The Most Cruel of All Festhered Rob
bers-Hgs Cowardly Attacks on Inofen-
sive Animais--The Dead Tree-An
Eagles Council.
"a great many persons, said Professor
Collctt. "who are considered well informed,
seem to think there are no eagles in Indiana.
The truth is we have quite number, a great
many more than We need. 1t was that sen
sible old utiitarian, Benjamin Franklin, who
suggested the turkey as our national bird,
objecting to the proud eagle as unrepubllcan,
because he had been appropriated as the EN-
blem of sovereignty by a number Of mon
archical powers. The poet and the seer
have given their finest faEcies and inspira-
tions 10 honor this bird, which, after all, is
the most cruel of all feathered robbers.
Sometimes he is no dahltier than the buz-
zartl, and will gorge himself with the vilest
carrion As to his cruelty, he takes special
delight in attacking some of the most harm
less and innocent animals. He will pick out
the eyes of limbs, apparently more as tor
ture than for food | have never heard of a
case in Indiana where man. woman or child
WIS utIdckttl Nv an tdBlt OWN
neighbOrhood, in VerniliOn county, | have
known an eagle to tear out the eyes of n
dozen lambs, frightening the ewes and keep
ing them at a distance by Tapping their
wings.
NOT COwARDLY, BUT WARY.
''I never knew an eagle to attack an ami
NAL that was capable ofsaesistance. Not
that ! mean to say he is cowarlly, hut he is
wary. The eagle, as commonly known, is a
solitary, melancholy bird. He is usually
seen alone in his flights, soaring at a great
height, because his eye is capable Of measur-
ing great distances. Their nests are built of
coarse sticks or brush, not well put together,
on the top of an inaccessible rock or some
tall monarch of the forest. 1t is commonly
believed that the occupation of such tree
for the nest Of an eagle causes its death;
hence, in story and in pictures the eagle nest
tree is always shown as a dead tree. 1t is not
true that the eagles occupancy kills the tree,
but he chooses n dead or leailess tree for the
purposes of observation. Besides, the eggs
in the nest may have enemies-nOt merely
animals, but birds, like jays and crows.
Il have little doubt that persons occasion
ally see eagles and mistake them'for other
birds the eagle being so rare. Perhaps,
however. many of cur Oldest inhabitants
/ have not seen more than one or two in a life
| time. 1t seems that the eagle, like the wild
! red man, requires a large hunting ground
, By q sort of arrangement a territory of five
( or ten miles square is assigned to a pair OF
/ eagles, though they do not sail in company
( They alr7ays keep the same territory and tbs
/ same nesting place.
I'VE have in Indiana the bald and tbs
| golden eagles, the former the uIore common
the latter extremely rare. Frequently th'
females and young males of silvered or bale
4 eagles are mistaken for the golden and Othel
/ species. All males OF the bald family ar,
ornamented with a white crest after attain
{ ing the age of Q years Before that age they
/ cannot readily be distinguished from tn
females in their more somber plumage. Fo
many years had seen but few eagles, 50
was surprised to learn that on an adjoining
/ farm to my own in Vermiliou county, In
diana, within two miles Of my residence
there was bald eagle aSsembly-that it wa
held there every night, and was the cente
to which eagles came from a distance o
more than fifty miles in all directions, for
flight of fifty miles or more is nothing L
! this mighty winged bird
MEETING FOR COUNSEL
''Thev came in the dusk Of the evening
and doubtless met for counsel and direction
more than mere companionshiP. As tn
birds came in one after another there woult
be shrieks of welcome and noises very start
ling to the listener This national congress
| as call il, has existed for period that tn
! mind of man runneth not TO the contrary
! The rooSts are on lofty, bare hmbed syca
mores in a very solitary place. By actua
count these eagles numbered fifty-three, o
which twenty four were males and the re
mainder either females or males that ha,
not reached the age Of wearing the whit
| crest.
''Why don't eagles increase in number
Well, everybody who gets chance to XII
an eagle does so. Another reason is tha
their nests are so badly built as not to fur
nish security to eggs in case of storm, ant
they are thrown down and the eggs broken
noticed in paper that an eagle had re
Gently been killed-in Greene county,
think it was-that measured eleven feet fou
inches from tip TO tip. had a wounde'
eagle for pet for some time. He had
broken wing and could not fly. He woul
hold a live chicken with one set of claws an
tear it into shreds. He was turned loose il
u BdIuen anu leu quarry ever udN. Sdts
poSsums, and coons kept at a respectabl
distance from the wounded king of the air
and it was unlucky for any strange dog t
get within his majesty's clutch. He neve
could escape without leaving slight test
monial in the way of hair or hide behin
him. The brilliancy of the eye Of the eagl
when angry is wonderful. 1t is dazzling
and magnificent in its fury. "-lndianapoli
IOYrDal